BraK3R's A/N: Sweeeeeeeeet, two edited chapters in one day! I feel accomplished hahaha

DelVarO's A/N: I'm on a roll! Two chapter in a single day. Well, one chapter for this story :P. First of all, i believe that i must apologize for taking so much time to update (you probably though i was dead i think, but heh, im not) and i also apologize in advance for this chapter, since its ridiculously short. The reason for that is the four hours i spent writing this for the sake of updating this and dvancing the story after so long. I believe the next chapter will be much longer. Now, a warning for you, there might be some words that you simply wont understand later into the chapter, but do not worry! Just read it and enjoy, ill discuss more of it at the end of the chapter.

Chapter Six - Beginning of The End

0955 Hours, February 7, 2563 (Military Calendar) / Planet Venatio / Research Base Alpha

"They welded the third floor entrance shut?" Leone asked aloud after everyone had regrouped in the control room and Damian had reported what they'd found. "And that whatever melted the floor there wasn't plasma?" he asked, looking at Sean who had just returned from inspecting the hole.

"Yeah that ain't plasma sarge, that's for sure," Sean replied, looking worried about something.

"Then what is it?" Jimmy asked, interrupting whatever Leone was about to say.

"Honestly? It looks like acid and a pretty damn strong one too. As for why they spilt so much acid there, if they even spilt it in the first place, I have absolutely no clue," Sean finished grimly.

Brass kept silent throughout the whole conversation, blankly staring at the now working screens, which displayed the progress of the system diagnosis. Leone looked at him for several seconds before addressing him. "Brass, you got anything to say?"

Brass nearly jumped from where he was sitting, being broken out of whatever he was thinking of, and looked around for a second before he turned his gaze to their squad leader.

"Sir?"

"Tell me what you have on your mind, you're never this quiet," Leone said gruffly. Everyone's attention turned to Brass, who looked quite squeamish at the sudden attention he was receiving.

"I... I don't like this sir," he replied after a moment of uncomfortable silence. "This place is just... empty. Covenant don't do this kind of shit. This place is just empty, like everyone just disappeared. The worst part is that I've heard rumors of an event similar to this before," Brass finished uneasily.

"You have?" Akura asked, raising a delicate eyebrow.

"Yeah, back in '59 I was on shore leave on Earth and there I met up with some other Special Forces guys on shore leave. We got to talking about stuff and one of the guys told us about one of the missions he had. An outpost went dark and his squad was sent to check it out. When they arrived there the outpost was just empty. No people, no dead bodies, just...nothing there. The systems were wiped, no signs of battles, absolutely nothing. Command assumed that they had defected to the rebels and took all the data but the guy who told me about this didn't believe that shit and neither did I. The outpost still had plenty of supplies left and they found all the belongings still there. It's like they just suddenly left, leaving all their stuff behind," Brass finished, allowing the unsettling silence to engulf the squad.

"B-but it's not like that here," Jimmy broke the silence. "There are signs of battle here; that acid, the bullet holes, and not to mention that welded door!" he said, attempting to ease the sudden grim mood Brass's story had delivered.

"I don't believe anything until I find out what the fuck happened here," Leone concluded.

"I agree, we can't be sure of anything yet," Akira agreed.

"Besides," Mary added, "we might find something in the video databanks once the system comes back online."

"Alright, enough sitting around. I want all of you to search the second and first floor one more time. If you find anything that might explain what happened here, bring it to this room. Mary and Sean? You're staying here with me so that we can bring the system back up ASAP. The rest of you search the base, are we clear?" He barked, answered by a chorus of 'Sir, yes sir!'. The squad, with the exception of the three that stayed in the control room, quickly piled out through the narrow door and all split up. Akira casually strode up to Damian, moving in step with him as they left to one of the corridors. Neither of them said a word for several minutes as they walked through the hallways, entering unlocked rooms to see if there was anything useful or salvageable in them.

"Found another battle scene. No bodies, bulletholes, those acid holes... same shit," Jake announced over the COM.

"Nothing on our end," Damian reported as they left another room without any luck.

"What do you think?" Akira asked him, her depolarized visor facing his way.

"Honestly? This place creeps the hell out of me, just look at it," Damian answered honestly, gesturing at the hallways with his free arm. The place was indeed in shambles. Speckles of dust hung in the air and the minimal amount of light they managed to bring back online was only making the place look worse as the barely lit pale lamps cast dark shadows in some areas. One lamp at the end of the corridor flickered in an annoying manner and Damian was suddenly reminded of those horror films he used to watch when he was a kid, despite the fact that his parents told him not to do so. To this day he had this... deep anxiety of flickering lights.

With a shudder that he managed to suppress, he turned to face his companion. "What about you?"

"I'll be honest as well," she began, pausing as she looked into another room, "I'm worried. Jake isn't the only one who has heard of something like this. I've heard of a similar case as well..." she trailed off.

Damian raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. "You've heard of it?"

"Yes. One of the outer colonies went dark after the end of the war. When our forces arrived at the scene they expected the Covenant, not empty buildings, empty streets, and the absence of civilians. The colony had simply vanished. However, several miles out of the colony, they'd found a large crater, possibly from a nuclear weapon as radiation was present. They never found anyone though, not even a trace," she finished her tale, her eyes showing a decent amount of worry in them.

"You think the same thing happened here," I said. That was a statement, not a question.

"Yes I do think so, although here the people didn't go quietly. I've also noticed that these disappearances began around ten years ago, shortly after the war," she speculated.

"You think there's a connection?" he asked her, "I doubt it was what remained of the Covenant though."

"I cant be sure of that. As for the Covenant, I know that they aren't responsible. They tend to be more open in their acts of aggression."

"True. Well, let's all hope we find something in the database, it might help us shed more light on this little problem of ours," he said the last part with a bit of a dramatic flair, causing Akira to chuckle at that.

"Aww man, why does Damian always gets to hang out with Akira?" Jimmy muttered.

"Hah! What was that? What did I hear now?" Brass interrupted him from behind, wearing a shit-eating grin behind his depolarized visor. Kyle snickered in the background.

"It was nothing, now fuck off!" Jimmy replied angrily.

"Kyle, what did he say? I don't believe I heard it right," Jake turned his head to face Kyle, still wearing that grin. To make matters worse for Jimmy, Kyle returned the same grin to Brass. It was well known that Jake didn't have much against Kyle, other than him being the FNG, Jimmy being his least favorite one.

"I believe that he mentioned Akira, something about her not hanging out with him I think," Kyle feigned ignorance, suppressing a snicker.

"Aww, wittle Jimmy likes our resident sniper?" Brass asked him mockingly. Jimmy bristled uncomfortably under his grin.

"Its not like that, I just want to get some tips on sniping..." he said lamely, to which Brass barked a loud laugh.

"Meh, don't even think about going there kid. Damian and Akira have a...thing going on," Brass clarified.

"Really? How do you know?" Kyle interjected, curiosity in his voice.

"Heh, it was around seven years ago, maybe eight. We had shore leave on one of the remaining planets after several battles against the brutes. We had a large party on our last day there and on the next day when we were supposed to leave and board our ship, guess who was late as hell?" Jake explained, a grin forming on his face when he said the last part.

"Damian and Akira," Kyle answered, a lesser version of Jake's grin forming on his face.

"Damn right. I don't think I've ever seen Sarge get so angry. Ever. Really, I thought his head might explode. It was so embarrassing because the whole freaking ship was waiting just for us. Sarge went to go get Damian, and I, being the helpful soldier that I am, joined him to kick his ass," at this point Brass started laughing his ass off.

"What happened?" Jimmy asked, unable to fend off the grin that gradually built up.

"Oh, that was, perhaps, the best day of my life," he said after he calmed down enough to continue speaking, pausing to add dramatic effect. "We found them both in Damian's room, about as naked as the day they were born. Sarge went absolutely fucking ballistic on them. He didn't even give them enough time to get dressed, not to talk about the massive hang-over they had also. He chased them down all the way to the space elevator while they'd barely managed to grab some bed sheets to cover themselves," he then burst into more laughter, this time joined by both of the younger soldiers.

"Holy crap!" Kyle remarked as he regained control over his voice.

"Hell yeah, I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life. All the stares they got in the elevator... and the verbal bitch-slapping they got from Sarge once they got on the ship. He canceled their next shore leave but it didn't really help since some people on the ship told us that they screwed around like rabbits there anyway. At least that time they didn't oversleep..." Brass finished, a fond smile on his face.

"So what, are they together?" Jimmy asked.

"Dunno, they got this weird on-off thing going on," Jake replied with a shrug, signifying that he didn't really care. "Don't mention this story to them though. Damian will probably punch you and me in the face and Akira will probably kill us all, got it?" he said, his face a mask of mock seriousness.

"Yes sir," Kyle replied with a casual salute.

"As much as this conversation is amusing and somewhat nostalgic, we do have a job to do. Shit, I think we missed like around ten rooms while we talked," Brass remarked.

"Eight actually, I counted," Jimmy pointed out, earning himself a blank stare from the older ODST.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because you were telling a story and I know how you get when you're interru-" he wasn't able to finish, as a loud shuffling sound was heard above them. The three of them quickly raised their weapons and aimed at the ceiling. The deafening silence was crushing them as they stood still as statues, waiting for something to happen.

"What the fuck was that?" Kyle whispered through their COM frequency instead of using the speakers, fearing that whatever caused the sound was listening to them.

"You're asking me?" Jake replied, whispering as well even if there wasn't a need to do so. Just then they heard the sound again, more clearly this time. It sounded as if something was moving above them, through the ceiling... and it was moving away from them.

"After it!" Brass barked as they ran after whatever caused that sound. They chased the surprisingly fast... whatever it was, as it moved through the ceiling. "What's it doing in the ceiling?" Jake yelled as they turned into another corridor and chased it.

"I think it's in the ventilation shafts, that's the only way whatever it is can move through the ceiling!" Kyle replied, his voice sounding ragged from the run. They continued to run after whatever it was, colliding with Damian and Akira when they'd turned into another corridor. "The fuck is that?" was the first thing Damian said as he looked at the ceiling, obviously hearing the sound of the creature, for it couldn't be anything else since humans couldn't fit into a freaking ventilation shaft let alone move so fast at the same time. "Hell if I know, its getting away!" Jake yelled to him as they ran past them. Damian and Akira shared a glance before they ran after them. They chased after the creature for another minute before their chase ended where they hadn't expected it to. Whatever moved through those shafts had finally reached a point where they couldn't follow it.

The sound of it moving through the shaft gradually lessened before it eventually disappeared, leaving the slightly winded and now more worried than before group of ODST's staring at the welded door that lead to the third floor.

Cha'kun'da was rather anxious. He'd heeded Nik'ah'kum's order and gathered the hunting party. All six of them, with the exception of Nichire and Nik'ah'kum gathered in a desolate clearing in the jungle and waited for their arrival but by now Cha'kun'da began to worry. The others also displayed some measure of weariness, as Nichire was not one to keep them waiting but like Nichire had said to them once, patience was important to the hunt and those who did not have it, died young. Although they knew that they had to wait patiently, they could not but worry; Nichire was never late.

While they waited for their Leader, they silently conversed among each other and Cha'kun'da silently listened in. The most common topic were the Oomans. Most of the hunting party felt that they should hunt them while a couple shared Nichire's view on the situation. Cha'kun'da couldn't actually disagree with both groups. While he did want to hunt the Oomans, as the tales that were told about them were sometimes grand, he knew that Nichire was somewhat right, that secrecy was their strength and if the Oomans became aware of them, future hunts would not be available.

All thoughts and conversations came to halt when Nik'ah'kum stumbled into the clearing and collapsed as soon as he saw them. Cha'kun'da was certain that he saw the vibrant green of their blood on his shoulder. The group quickly approached him to helm him on his feet. One of the older Yautja, Ee'vara, rolled Nik'ah'kum onto his back and inspected the wound.

"Ooman burner," he stated, causing the others to start chattering amongst each other. He removed Nik'ah'kum's mask to reveal his dazed gaze.

"Ki'cte!" One of Nichire's main supporters, Ave'gaar, barked, silencing the others. He was one of the most experienced warriors they had and he commanded the younger ones' respect. "What has happened?" He asked Nik'ah'kum as he approached him.

Nik'ah'kum simply reached into his pouch with a shaky hand in response, pulling out a Yautja mask. Silence descended upon the group as they watched the young Yautja raise the mask, offering it to Ave'gaar with a shaking hand. Everyone froze as soon as they inspected the mask, two burner holes through it and the easily identified Yautja blood covering it.

It was without a doubt Nichire's mask. Nik'ah'kums masked gaze settled on the older warrior before he uttered two hoarse words. "Pyode Amedha." Soft meat. The silence was simply deafening and Cha'kun'da's eyes widened behind his mask, already deciphering Nik'ah'kum's plan and realizing what he had done. Ave'gaar arched his back and unleashed a roar that held all his fury.

"C'jit!" Ave'gaar roared, now raising Nik'ah'kum roughly to his feet. "How did this happen?" he roared into his face. "How?" he roared again, this time unsheathing his Ki'cti-pa.

"Nichire was watching the Oomans but they spotted him and attacked. He fought them but he fell, I attempted to retrieve him but i failed... this is all i managed to take without dying," he said hoarsely, gesturing at the mask. Ave'gaar watched him silently for several moments. "Coward," he eventually spat, dropping the wounded Yautja to the ground and sheathing his Ki'cti-pa. "Do not treat his wounds. May it be a reminder of his cowardice," he spat, a constant growl emanating from his throat. "And he will be the Hult'ah for the remainder of the Hunt."

Ave'gaar faced the group, who all looked at him in anticipation, the sound of mandibles clicking could be heard. "Nichire's path ended here," he finally stated. "but," he paused there, "Dtai'k-dte sa-de nav'g-kon dtain'aun bpide," he finished as the other roared in agreement. 'The fight begun will not end until the end.' Cha'kun'da mused. The decision has been made. The Pyode Amedha began the fight and the Yautja will end it. He watched Nik'ah'kum as he continued to sit on the ground, watching the others. He saw the pleased and the the clicking of his mendibles in anticipation. He felt disgust rise within him and his contempt for the Kwei Nik'ah'kum grow. He respected Nichire as he was a great Leader and he learned much from him. For his Dhi'ki-de to be brought by the hands of one such as Nik'ah'kum... such an uninspiring way to meet the Dark Warrior...

Ave'gaar gave a bark to get their attention, forcing everyone to face their new Leader, as he was the most experienced of them, now that Nichire was gone. "M-di H'chak!" he growled, raising a fist into the air. "M-di H'chak!" the others repeated in a chorused roar, raising their fists into the air as well.

The Hunt has begun.

DelVarO's A/N: Ooh damn, the shit is about to hit the fan so prepare yourselves! Heh, i really had fun writing this chapter and I hope the Yautja language didnt confuse you too much. Honestly, im too lazy to write the translation here, even though i translated a few of the words in the chapter, but if you're really curious just ask and i will provide it in

the next chapter, which this time will come within two weeks (i mean it this time!). Damn, im still a bit giddy from writing this chapter, simply because the interesting

stuff will begin next chapter! Thank you for reading my story and double thanks to all the reviewers! I gladly accept constructive criticism, suggestions, idea and just

your simple opinions (It can be negative as well). Leave them all in a review or a PM, whatever suits you :P. Thanks for reading and until next time, Delvaro out!